Everything is based on safe procedures
The safety of a nuclear power plant is based not only on reliable plant engineering and multiple safety systems, but also on professional and responsible personnel. At TVO, responsible operation encompasses many kinds of things, which all share the philosophy of uncompromising safety culture.
Safety culture is a whole that consists of the procedures followed by the organisation and the attitudes of individual people. Safety culture means that different factors are prioritised in actions and decision-making according to their impact on the safety of the nuclear power plant.
In other words, the safety of work is primarily determined by the attitudes of those carrying out the work. Their attitudes, on the other hand, affect care, diligence, responsibility and consideration of others. Good safety culture translates into continuous improvement of safety aspects. At TVO, the personnel is expected to take safety matters and their development seriously.
Status of safety culture reviewed by self-assessment
Various surveys and indicators are used to establish the level of safety culture. Every three years, the self-assessment of safety culture specified by IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) is carried out utilising experience gained in previous self-assessment processes. The status of safety culture was assessed for the first time at TVO according to the self-assessment process ten years ago. The latest self-assessment was implemented towards the end of 2013 ad the final report was published in January of this year.
The self-assessment comprises a safety atmosphere survey targeted at the entire staff as well as a documentary review. The results are finally assessed by a self-assessment team of ten TVO employees and the team also makes recommendations based on the results. The goal is to utilise the result in the development of an uncompromising attitude towards safety issues.
In 2013, the self-assessment team of safety culture was chaired by Ms. Nina Paaso from Operations Support. According to Ms. Paaso, safety culture is most of all about the whole.
- Safety culture concerns everybody at TVO, whether they work with accounting or in the control room of the plant unit. With everybody involved in this, we can guarantee the safety and high quality of energy production, Ms. Paaso says.
Important precondition for efficient production
This time the self-assessment focused on the plant units in operation (OL1 and OL2). The assessment revealed that there are still areas in need of development, for example to achieve a higher reply percentage. The readiness to embrace change will also be encouraged, while the certain complacency on the lessons-learned approach, which became obvious in the survey, will need to be discouraged.
The strengths identified in TVO’s operation included the emphasis placed on the strategic significance of safety, the highlighting of the priority of safety, the long-term approach adopted in planning, the continuous improvement of the plant units and the elimination of minor deficiencies. It could be concluded on the basis of the survey that in the views of TVO’s employees, safety culture is on a good level.
The total assessment carried out in the self-assessment process is based on IAEA’s three-tier model of development. In the 2013 self-assessment, TVO ended on tier 2, where a good safety level is seen as an important precondition for efficient production. Safety is also considered to be one of the success factors for the organisation. On tier 1, safety culture is only maintained, because it is an external requirement. On tier 3, the aim is to continuously improve safety.
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